The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), a Federal Government agency, has called on Nigerians to patronise and promote ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ goods and services for sustainable economic development of the country.
The agency maintained that if Nigerians patronize ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ goods, the nation’s economy will be stronger and more buoyant.
Babajide Sawyerr from NASENI, Lagos Office made the call while speaking at a Strategic Focus Group Meeting on ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ products held in Abeokuta for the Ogun State stakeholders.
According to him, the meeting was in line with the agency’s mandate to drive economic growth by encouraging patronage of Nigerian goods.
Sawyerr, who expressed concerns about the low patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products, stressed that this has had a negative impact on the country’s economy.
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He added that the low demand for Made-in-Nigeria products is not only affecting the economy but also leading to unemployment, as jobs are being exported to other countries that produce goods imported into Nigeria.
Speaking on the purpose of the focus group meeting, Sawyerr said, “it was scheduled to bring in all stakeholders, the manufacturers, the academia, the SMEs, the big players in the industry and see how we can all work together to boost the productivity of ‘Made-in-Nigerian’ products and how we can also enhance the patronage.”
“This meeting provides an opportunity to know what the challenges are while we also take such issues away as feedback and then see how to work out the solution for such challenges.”
To achieve this goal, Sawyerr said NASENI is collaborating with various industries and empowering skilled labour.
The agency is also visiting firms and signing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with industries to strengthen local manufacturing and drive technological innovation.
Sawyerr said, “NASENI is engaging focus groups to gather information from stakeholders on how we can come in properly to promote and encourage the use of our products and services.
“We are collaborating with various industries and empowering skilled labour to drive technological innovation and boost local production.
“My message for Nigerians is to please patronize made in Nigeria products. We are visiting firms, signing MOUs with industries, and empowering skilled labour.”
On her part, the Head of Product and Marketing Department, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Hadiza Kashiat said that the bane of ‘Made-in-Nigerian’ goods is the wrong perception.
Kashiat explained that “as Nigerians, we have to change our perception. We must look inward and know that this is our country. A lot of made-in-Nigerian products are good, given the many of our products that are going out of the country.
She argued that most of the locally made products being rejected by Nigerians are more durable and of better quality than imported products, adding that the nation’s economy will not grow if Nigerians continue to reject them.
“A lot of our products are being rebranded in another country’s name after leaving the country. For instance, Nigerian lubricants are one of the best in the world.
“We have our ginger. Malaysia is still coming to export palm oil out of our country because of the quality, which means we have good quality products.
“That means we have to check how we take and look at the products produced in our country”.
“We can’t keep saying we don’t want Nigerian made yet; we want our economy to grow. China did not grow by abandoning what it produced.
“In fact, China at a time locked its economy to become what it is today.
“We also have to lock our economy and patronize what we produce to make our economy buoyant and encourage those we feel are not yet up there in terms of the standard.”
Also speaking, Mr. Ibrahim Idris from the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) listed the high cost of energy, volatility of the forex, lack of proper funding for universities to undertake qualitative research, and production of substandard goods as factors slowing down the country’s industrial growth
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